Reinforcing shoe parts



Aug. 3, 1943. v J J BROPHY I 2,325,656

REINFORCING SHOE PARTS Filed Nov. 28, 1940 rear part of ashoe upper;

Patented Aug. 3, 1943 a H b 2,325,656 s b REINFORCINGSHOE PARTS John J. Brophy, Salem, Masamsa nor' to United Shoe Machinery Corporation, 7 N. J., a corporationofjNew Jersey Flemington,

I. T Application November 28, 1940, Serial No. 367,493

r 1 claim, (01. 12-14 This invention relates ,to theireinforcing of uppers of, shoes, and isherein illustrated in cnnection with the reinforcing of a. back seam.

In-the manufacture of shoes it is common to superpose one quarter upon another with their display faces in contact, and to sew the two quarters together by a seam which liesclose to i their rear edges, this seam being the ack seam of'the upper.

When the quartersqthus sewed together 'are opened away fromeachother and turned right side outinto the approximate posi: tion which they: will-occupy in the finished shoe, the ends of thequarters beyond theseam form a ridge whichprojects from the inner faces of the quarters toward whatwill bethe interior of, V the finished shoe. In order to reduce this ridge nd to reinforce the seam, it is common, while the quarters are wrong side out, to separate the two parts of the seam ridge, to bend'them apart, toapply pressure to them so as to ilatten the ridge, and then to apply to the seam ridge and fasten in place a reinforcing strip of fabric.

The general object of the present invention is to do away with the necessity of providing a preformed reinforcing strip, as well as with the machine which itis necessary to use in applying i such a strip to, the shoe upper, and at the same time to provide amore reinforcement.

eiiective andmore flexible According to the present invention, anupper V a is strengthened ina selected locality by applying reinforcing material in flowable formto the callty and causing the material to harden into a seam. w Referring to the accompanying drawing,

Fig. 1 is a perspectiveshowing the application of fiowable reinforcing material over the seam ridge and adjacent localities on .the inner faces of portions of the quarters which form the Fig, 2 is across section of a portion of the rear part of the upper right side out with a reinforcement extending over the seam ridge; 1 and Fig. 3 is a cross section, similar to that of Fig. 2, showing a seam ridge which has not been pressed, and a reinforcement which not only extends over in any suitable manner, for example by being extruded througha properly shaped as shown, by means of a brush l1.

In Fig. 2,the quarters are shown right side out in approximately the position they would occupy in thefinished shoe, the material [5 hav ing, hardened into a tough, flexible reinforcee ment; In. some instances. depending somewhat 7 upon the height of the seam ridge andthe type of shoe being made, the pressing of the seama ridge may be omitted and the reinforcing material applied in such-manner and quantity that it not only extends over the seam ridge, but fills the hollows on each side of said ridge, as shown at 2| in Fig. 3.

tough, flexible reinforcement, which is thus formed in situ, Where sucha procedure is followed forthe purpose of reinforcing a. back seam having a seam ridge, the fiowable material may,

, in some cases, be applied insuch manner that it not only covers the seam ridge but substantially fills the hollows on either side of said ridge,

thereby obviating the necessity of pressing the Preferably, a vinyl resin is used as, the rein forcing material, since such a resin'has qualities of toughness, strength and flexibility which are particularly desirable, and since areinforcement in the form of a strip or band of such resin 7 formed in situ adheresvery firmly to the shoe part. Thefollowing are examples of prepara tions ofvinyl resins which may be used.

Example I p W 7 Parts by weight Vinylite XYSG 18 Plasticiser 3GH V 9 Ethyl alcohol 66 Y Cellosolve l 7 V These ingredients are mixed cold to produce, a viscous'solution which tends to gel upon standing. The viscoussolution or gel, heated to about to render it properly flowable, is applied to the shoe part.

Example II V W V a t 7 Parts byweight Polyvinyl alcohol '(high viscosity) l 18 Sorbltol (solid) 10 Water 72 The polyvinyl alcohol and thesorbitol are stirred into thewater, and then the solution is Patent of the United States is: e

The method of reinforcing the backsea m join- "ing the quarters which form theireair portion of: the upper of 'a; shoe] prior to incorporatinggthe rear portion in a shoe, the back seam having a seam ridge which projects from the unfinished,

side of the upper; said method comprising turn-' ing the said rear portion of the upper wrong side out to give easy access to the seam ridge, applying over the seam ridge and the closely adjacent portions of the quarters only a. reinforcing maj terial in flowable form, and causing the material to solidify intoa tough, flexible reinforcemenit which adheres to the seam. ridge-and to theiadja cent, portions ofi thequairters'on each side of said ridge.

JOHN J. BRQPHY. 

